BRAKING NEWS
The go-faster ‘tasche is back, plus this month’s deals and more.
While Motogp used its mighty wallet to smash through Covid issues, that wasn’t an option for grassroots racing. It just stopped. But as restrictions lift, clubs like the Dirt Track Riders Association (DTRA) are cranking back into action after a nightmare year. ‘It’s been difficult – you couldn’t plan for anything because it all kept changing,’ says DTRA co-founder and head honcho Anthony Brown at the first meeting of 2021 at Kings Lynn speedway stadium. ‘For us to organise a race meeting is probably 18-20 hours of work, plus getting everyone to sign on. So if we don’t run, that’s a lot of wasted time. We’ve done that four times in the last 12 months.’ But today at Kings Lynn, all is well. The sun is out, the racers are fizzing and the atmosphere is enchanting. Hardcore professionals brimming with sinewy energy chat happily with portly gents whose race outfits look like fancy dress. ‘We had 178 riders signed up for this weekend,’ says Anthony. ‘We’ve grown by introducing new classes like Hooligans (for 750cc-plus road bikes with a stock frame) and Vintage (pre-1975 twin shocks) which have really worked. And the Minibikes have been good too – we used to have five or six and now we have 30-odd of them.’
Minibike racing is something else. Watching grown men (kids have their own classes) thrash round on shrunk-in-the-wash flat trackers is both laugh-outloud funny and fantastically close racing. ‘Minibikes is good racing experience,’ says Anthony. You can buy a stock one off-the-shelf and start racing for under £600. It’s a great learning class.’
But beware. Like all racing, it’s addictive. ‘Dirt track looks simple but it’s actually difficult to do well – that’s what keeps people coming back. Come along and have a go.’
The next round of the DTRA series is on 12-13 June at Greenfield, Lincs. » Want to have a go? Start at dirttrackriders.co.uk